Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a multi-part process for managing pests in the most efficient, humane, and ecologically responsible way. It originates from agricultural pest control, but can be adapted to the household. I have broken it down into steps below.

1. Tolerance. Many people are brought up with the philosophy that anything with more than 4 legs in the house needs to be squashed. In most cases, a small creature that gets into your house is not there to cause any harm. In fact, it might be a learning opportunity for you–take a photo with your phone, and see if you can identify it. If you can safely catch it, it might be something that would prefer to be outside. Some people are ok with sharing their homes with certain bugs. In IPM for agriculture, there is a tolerance limit, a level of product-destroying pests which can be tolerated until the number exceeds it; up until then, it will take more resources to control the pest than to tolerate it. In household situations where the pest is causing damage to property or is threatening the health of the members of the household, the time for tolerance is over.

2. Sanitation and Exclusion. Pest control pros use the word “sanitation” to refer to any cleaning or tidying measure that helps prevent pests. It could be the frequency of trash removal or how you deal with the recycling or compost. Sanitation includes how often you feed your pets or wild birds, and how often you clean the pet dishes and bird feeders. In some situations, sanitation can include how dry your sink is when it is empty, and how much you water your plants. These are also sometimes referred to as “cultural controls,” meaning they are ways to change the culture of the household to make it less appealing to the bugs and other animals you wish would stay away.

Exclusion is another form of cultural control, and goes hand in hand with sanitation. One of the simplest forms of exclusion is a window screen to keep uninvited visitors from flying in. Every door and window in a house is a place where a pest control pro will inspect, for adequate exclusion. Pet owners practice exclusion all the time–dog owners know which dogs will grab objects from countertops, and place objects higher or further away to prevent this. Putting dirty clothes in a hamper is an exclusion method used to prevent dogs from chewing socks. If ants are getting to the cat’s food, you might be able to put the cat dish into a larger dish with water, preventing the ant from crossing this little moat. Sometimes exclusion is more complicated, and might involve carpentry or other kinds of installation, like a chimney cap, or a vent cover.

3. Natural enemies. This can be a part of number one, Tolerance. If you tolerate the presence of spiders and house centipedes, these predators will help control insects around the house. Some gardeners purchase predatory insects to help control insects that eat garden plants, but if you do this, make sure you are buying species that occur in your area naturally. Humans have caused a lot of trouble trying to bring animals from one continent to another in the name of pest control. Keeping your yard and garden diverse, with many different species of plant from your area will encourage a diversity of predators.

4. Mechanical trapping. There are a multitude of different devices available to buy to control pests. Some, like plug-in ultrasonic repelling devices, are known to be ineffective. Others, like the spring-loaded mouse trap, have been proven to work for a very long time. There are traps designed to catch mice without harming them, but remember, if it got in your house once, it can do it again (see exclusion, above). Sticky traps are a kind of mechanical trap that catch animals with an adhesive; the animal generally dies of dehydration while stuck. Fly paper doesn’t seem to be controversial, but using adhesive traps for snakes, mice, and other vertebrate animals is distasteful to most people, and some municipalities are banning the practice. Larger animals can be caught in cage-type traps, but then what do you do with the trapped animal? In some states, relocating the animal is against the law, and you have to either release the animal or find a way to humanely kill it in the trap.

5. Chemical controls. Synthetic chemical pesticides developed in the early 20th century revolutionized agriculture, and helped produce crop yields never seen before. It wasn’t long before the downside of these products became clear. The unintended consequences of mass pesticide use nearly drove the osprey, bald eagle, and peregrine falcon extinct. Government, academic, and industry experts created the Integrated Pest Management framework as a way to reduce excessive pesticide use. Most households can refrain from using pesticides at all, or choose products that are known to have the least risk to the environment. Keep in mind, that even if a product says that it is natural or plant-derived or “green” in some other way, all pesticides are designed to kill pests, by definition. Read product labels and follow them closely. Do research by looking at the websites of university extension programs.